The last days of December 2020 are a historic event on the Polish banking market. Bank Pekao takes over the failing Idea Bank along with customers, their accounts, contracts and liabilities. Bank employees also come under his wing. All in accordance with the decision on the compulsory takeover taken by the Bank Guarantee Fund.
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According to BFG, the bank was on the highway leading to bankruptcy and no restructuring process was able to stop it. The president of Idea Bank, Jerzy Pruski, and the owner – Leszek Czarnecki, were of the opposite opinion.
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However, the decision was made and the bank has not existed for six months. However, there are his clients and systems. Bank Pekao now intends to complete the process of incorporating Ideas into its structures.
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– We are preparing for the full integration of Pekao clients with the acquired part of the former Idea Bank. It will be a combination of technological infrastructure, but we are also working with clients, says Wojciech Werochowski, Pekao’s vice president responsible for retail banking, to money.pl.
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Preparations started in December. Sending messages to former Idea customers will begin any moment, in which they will be informed about the new offer and technological changes. One of the November weekends will be crucial here – it has not been determined yet which one – when the Idea electronic banking systems disappear and customers log in to Pekao. This is called migration weekend.
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Werochowski argues that they want to encourage the largest number of over 100,000 people to stay. active individual clients and approx. 200 thousand. entrepreneurs and companies.
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The vice president admits, however, that people who came to this bank only for deposits with high interest rates had to adapt to the new reality. Low interest rates mean that no one in the market pays much, and deposit funds are now a cost rather than a profit for banks. Especially for a giant like Pekao.
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– We want to make mono-product clients set up an account or get a loan from us. We have to establish a relationship with them as Pekao – he explains.
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Credit agreements remain in effect. In the case of accounts and business accounts (which Idea Bank was famous for), customers will be able to use existing offers. Pekao, to keep them, intends to add something more to them. The lure is to be, for example, free ATMs abroad.
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How much will Pekao cost? Werochowski does not want to disclose this. A few months ago, the bank’s president, Leszek Skiba, talked about the cost of merging banks at PLN 120 million, but also about PLN 420 million in profit from the so-called synergy effects. However, these are to be worked out in the long term, as much as ten years.
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– For us, in the long term, the acquisition of Idea Bank will be financially beneficial. The key here is to product customers, this is the job we have to do. The bill will be positive here, however, argues Werochowski.
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